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  <title>Chapter 14</title>
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            <h1 class="title">Chapter 14</h1>
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          <h2 class="subtitle">Iszak</h2>
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      <p class="first first-in-chapter first-full-width"><span class="first-letter first-letter-t">T</span>he scent of breakfast set Iszak’s stomach on full rumble mode, as though he contained a monster that wanted to escape.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas groaned beside him as they made their way up the stairwell in the Brooklyn rowhouse to their grandmother’s top-floor apartment. “Oh, fuck, she’s laying it on today. I smell everything.” He paused to inhale and swallowed as though he were eating the air. “Fuck … palacsinta with raspberry syrup …” His nostrils flared again. “Pogača, too, and fresh sausages, eggs … You think she knows already? She probably fucking already knows. That’ll save us some trouble.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak snorted. All the aromas he loved most came from that apartment, but he couldn’t get the sweet, winter rain smell of Belah out of his head.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“She’ll still make us squirm until we get it all out,” he said.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“I don’t know how the fuck Ozzie’s lasted as long as he has, living with her.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Better him than us,” Iszak said, reaching the front door to his grandmother’s apartment and putting on a smile before they walked in.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Nanyo! You beautiful woman!” he bellowed upon entry. “I could smell the food from a mile away. You’re torturing me!”</p>
      <p class="subsq">The diminutive, elderly woman by the stove wiped her hands and bounced a little on her heels before rushing to him and wrapping him in a vise-like embrace. Jesus, he was always surprised by how strong she was.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Iszak! Lukas! It’s a good day, a <i>grand</i> day for us. I thought we’d celebrate.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas took Iszak’s place in their grandmother’s arms, and Iszak made his way through the foyer around to the living area. He took a deep breath, letting himself absorb the comfort of the familiar space he once called home, and still did, in some fashion. His grandmother could be a harpy, sure. “Soft” wasn’t in her repertoire, but wherever she lived would always be home to him.</p>
      <p class="subsq">A strong hand clapped down on his shoulder, and he turned to see his cousin grinning at him.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“The woman’s on fire today,” Ozzie said. “It always fucking terrifies me when she’s like this.” His grin didn’t falter, but Iszak caught an undercurrent of desperation in Ozzie’s voice.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Yet you stay,” Iszak said, raising an eyebrow. He eyed the dark bruise that graced his cousin’s forehead with the half-healed cut through the middle, but didn’t ask. His cousin had always been a troublemaker. Whatever had earned him that knot, he’d probably had it coming.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“She gets me laid, man. And you’ve tasted her cooking.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak’s other eyebrow went up. “She’s your grandmother.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Jesus, that’s not what I meant,” Ozzie said. “She discovered the fucking Internet. I know you guys had it hard when you were under her thumb, but she’s all about dating websites now, so I just let her have fun with it. She set up my profile with my photo. She sets up the dates, and I go where she says, when she says. Makes her happy and gets me closer to the One.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">A bubble of mirth swelled in Iszak. His grandmother had always been the matchmaker for everyone, and not just her own family. Every human who lived around them for as long as Iszak remembered had come to her to find their mates, and had never been dissatisfied with the results. Babies were named after his grandmother. Many were named after Iszak and his siblings for the little tasks they pulled off to help complete a human love affair his grandmother had orchestrated.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Now she was dead-set on doing it for Ozzie, too. More power to her, he supposed.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“So this little celebration … does that mean you found the One?” Iszak asked, hopeful.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Ozzie’s face fell a little and he snorted. “Fuck no. So fucking close, though. Last night’s date … I wish.” His cousin’s face darkened further.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Does the doozy on your skull have anything to do with it? Who’d she set you up with, anyway?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Ozzie grimaced. “Dodged a bullet, that’s all.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lies weren’t a turul thing, but Iszak knew his cousin was obscuring the truth, and the plaintive glance Ozzie gave him told him his cousin knew he knew.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Don’t tell her,” Ozzie said. “I don’t want her to obsess over a fuckup. She’s still learning how things work.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak nodded, but when Ozzie turned away to answer their grandmother’s request, he watched the older woman intently. Sophia North didn’t obsess. She didn’t fuck up. And she sure as shit had a reason for everything she did. Even if it led to the death of one of her own family.</p>
      <p class="subsq">He followed his cousin to the open dining area, accepted the stack of plates from Lukas, and helped set the table while his grandmother and brother began fanning out the spread.</p>
      <p class="subsq">After the four of them sat, they clasped hands and sang their thanks to the Winds like always. And, like always, his grandmother added her thanks to the sun and moon and earth for their bounty. Most turul didn’t acknowledge the other powers in the universe, but his Nanyo had always insisted they were all beholden to each other. That they shared responsibility for all their bounties and all their strife. Even though he knew his true mate was a dragon, Iszak still wasn’t convinced, but this time he listened and gave his grandmother’s hand a squeeze when she finished.</p>
      <p class="subsq">They dug in with gusto, devouring the meal until there were little but scraps left. If Iszak didn’t know better, he’d have looked at the destruction of the dishes and thought a cyclone had come through, sucking everything but the plates and cutlery into the heavens.</p>
      <p class="subsq">His eyelids fluttered as he sat back in his seat, his grandmother’s cooking lulling him into complacency. He was ready for a nap now, and the overstuffed sofa in her living room was calling to him. He was fantasizing about falling asleep on the old, familiar cushions when his grandmother’s sharp voice shattered his lethargic, food-induced fugue.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“When am I going to meet your mate? You should have brought her today.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak looked at Lukas, who sat across the table from him. His brother gave him a bemused smile and shrugged as if to say, “Who knows?” Their grandmother had always seemed to find out their secrets, sometimes long before they knew the truth themselves.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“She’s busy, Nanyo,” Iszak said.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“ ‘Busy’ is a useless word. It means as much as ‘fine.’ I ask you how you’re doing, you say ‘fine.’ You’re never fine. I ask you if you can come help an old woman, you say you’re ‘busy,’ but you’re never busy. Why is this woman so busy? If she’s yours, she should be here.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“She’s a dragon, Nanyo,” Lukas offered. Iszak scowled at him.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Fuck,” Ozzie said. “You landed a dragon? No wonder she was cooking so madly. You’re the man, Iszak.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak glared at his brother, hating the confrontation he knew was imminent. Lukas stared back, his gaze resolute. Their grandmother would know, no matter what. And whatever she said would determine the course their lives took.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Dragon or not, she’s yours. Busy or not, she should be here. Your demons are at it again, Iszak. She should be here.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“My … demons?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“The stone in your belly that won’t let you fly.” She pressed a gnarled hand against his midsection.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Ozzie shook his head and stood to begin clearing dishes. “Jesus, man. You found your mate—who is a fucking dragon—and you’re not out there fucking on Cloud Nine right now? Lukas, can you talk some sense into your brother? You guys live together. Did you get to meet her, at least?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas’s expression darkened as he continued staring Iszak down. Ozzie stood in the archway to the kitchen, his gaze flitting back and forth between them. Finally, he set down the stack of dishes and cursed. “You guys going to let me in on the fucking secret here?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas raised an eyebrow at Iszak as if to say, “Are you?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“I wasn’t the only one who found my true mate last night. Lukas did, too. In fact, I probably have him to thank for bringing her home with him.” He gave his brother a sad smile before turning to his grandmother and Ozzie. “The problem is we seem to have scared her off and we have no idea where to find her.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Ozzie gawked at them. “Wait a sec … you’re not saying what I think you’re saying, are you? The same female? Can that even happen? I mean, who gets to have her? Are you even allowed to share? Jesus, I’d be willing to share just to know I’d found her, not the goddamn <i>anti-</i>mate I got set up with last night. I’m telling you, I think I’m done with Internet dating. No offense, Nanyo, but it’s a bit too dangerous.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Ozzie turned back to his chores with an over-affected shiver and a shake of his head.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Stepping stones,” Nanyo said to Ozzie. “You will never find the start of the path if you don’t commit to the journey, and you can’t expect to reach your destination after a single step.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak sighed, weary of his grandmother’s repeated philosophy that the journey wasn’t meant to be easy. She still maintained that Evie’s choices were the right choices and that their sister might still be alive, despite all evidence to the contrary.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas finally spoke up. “Well, we found her for a night, but how the hell do we get her back?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Are you willing to compromise? To let go of your demons and be patient? Open yourselves up to love, because that is what it will take to keep her. It may take more strength than you believe you have. Your mate is a very special female.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak narrowed his eyes. “You sound like you know her already. What aren’t you telling us?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">The older woman’s eye’s twinkled. “I know that to love both my handsome grandsons, she must be incredibly special. Believe in her, call to her, and she will come.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">With that, Sophia North rose from the table, her departure signaling she had nothing more to say on the matter.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak rose, following Lukas to the kitchen with the remaining dishes. The pair worked silently, while their cousin’s compulsive need to beat a rhythm on every dish filled the house with music. Their grandmother sat at the piano in the other room and played an old tune Iszak recognized as a variation on his own song. Supposedly, it was the song that had brought his parents together.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Was the song all it would take?</p>
      <p class="subsq">“What are you doing on Saturday, Ozzie?” he asked.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Ozzie shrugged and tossed a couple of towels to Iszak and Lucas, who began drying and putting away the dishes. “Trying to avoid getting in the way of the fucking Ultiori again,” he muttered.</p>
      <p class="subsq">Iszak stopped cold and stared at his cousin. On the opposite side, Lukas was a mirror image to his rigid posture, mouth hanging open.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“What did you just say?” Iszak asked in a slow, even tone.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“What the fuck do you mean ‘again’ ?” Lukas asked. He pointed at Ozzie’s bruised brow. “Want to tell us what really happened last night?”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Ozzie wrung out his dishrag and tossed it over the faucet, then turned to face them, shoulders sagging. He took a breath and tilted his head, peering into the other room to locate their grandmother. Under his breath, he said, “Serves me right for getting my hopes up, that’s all. Remember the old tales about the Blue Beast who created those blood-hungry bastards? Well, she’s real, and she’s a fucking Ultiori magnet. They’re in the city. All of them. Elites, even the big guy—and boy, is he a fucking nightmare.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“I thought you said Nanyo’s been setting you up on dates. She wouldn’t …”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Don’t tell her. It’d crush her if she thought she put me in danger.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">Lukas snorted and shot Iszak a glance. Their grandmother wouldn’t hesitate to put one of them in danger, if it meant they somehow stayed on the path she believed they belonged on.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Where did you see them?” Iszak asked.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Central Park, but it doesn’t fucking matter, does it? They can be anywhere. Motherfuckers disappeared into thin air right in front of me.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Fuck,” Iszak said, the gravity of his cousin’s revelation hitting him. One thing they all knew about the Ultiori leader was that he had a particular taste for unmated, female Blue dragons, and his victims rarely survived.</p>
      <p class="subsq">“We <i>have</i> to play sooner than Saturday,” Lukas said. “Oz, we need to find our mate before the Ultiori find her. Nanyo seems to think if we play, she’ll come to us.”</p>
      <p class="subsq">“Shit,” Ozzie said, looking between them both in horror. “Yeah, man, I’m there. I’m wherever you need me to be.”</p>
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